Lemon Pudding Cake

After a marathon weekend of eating and drinking I received a request for a light dessert. I immediately thought of the delicious sounding lemon recipe that I had torn out of a magazine. Of course I couldn't remember the name of the dish nor could I locate the recipe (although I'm sure it was in my way for the last three weeks, but now that I want it . . .). Anyway, I made the best of my absent-mindedness and found a simple recipe (six ingredients!) for a Lemon Pudding Cake.
To start combine 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt and a heaping 1/2 cup of sugar in a large bowl.
In a separate small bowl combine 3 egg yolks, 1 1/3 cup whole milk, and the juice and zest of two lemons.

Add the wet mixture into the dry and stir to combine.
For the following step, the "official recipe" instructs you to beat the three egg whites with your electric mixer. . . some of us don't have one of those. In that case, bear down and hope that your upper body strength is better than mine and get to beating those eggs by hand.

Frothy . . .

Once the egg whites form soft peaks gradually add in 1/4 cup sugar.

Soft peaks. . .

Beat until the whites form

STIFF PEAKS!

Add in 1/4 of egg whites to your other mixture and stir to combine. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour into a buttered baking dish (I, for example, used a pie pan) and pop into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

Eat up!

For the original recipe from Gourmet magazine click here.

Cardamom-Infused Quinoa Pudding with Caramelized Apples

I am living with an invalid at the moment so decided to make some flavorful, slightly spice-y food to heal him (and in the hope that he could actually taste it). Being the health nut that I am I figured we should start with dessert first. The weather and the invalid called for comfort food so I decided to make a version of Indian rice pudding - subbing quinoa in as my grain. I used cardamom and cinnamon to flavor the dessert and topped it off with some caramelized apples.
To begin combine 2 cups whole milk (or lower percentages if you are feeling strong-willed), 1/3 cup cream, 2/3 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or a vanilla bean if you have it - I didn't), 1 teaspoon of cardamom pods, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan.
Heat on medium heat until it is almost boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add 3/4 cup of quinoa, 1 cup golden raisins, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and stir. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the pudding has thickened and the quinoa is tender, you are all set and can turn off the heat and set aside to cool.
While the pudding is cooking (or after, depends if you are a multi-tasker) take peel and dice one large granny smith apple.
Heat a pan over medium heat and throw in a pat of butter. Toss in the diced apple along with a tablespoonful or two of brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Saute until caramelized (I like mine a little crispy, leave them in longer if you like yours tender). Everything is ready! Throw the pudding into a bowl, spoon some apples on top and sprinkle on a little extra cinnamon and eat up.


Next up, part two of my nursing-a-cold-cooking-weekend: Mulligatawny Soup!
For a gorgeous and somewhat Spring-ier quinoa pudding recipe click here to take a peek at Cannelle et Vanille's version.